G.R.A.A.
Goddard Retirees and Alumni Association
P.O. Box 163, Lanham, MD 20703-0163

IMPORTANT DATES

COMMENTS FROM RON BROWNING, GRAA PRESIDENT: Alberta Moran, frequently credited with being Goddard’s longest serving “Center Director,” certainly outdid herself in assembling such a distinguished panel of Goddard pioneers as Bob Hutchison, Ches Looney, George Ludwig, Rick Obenschain, Majorie Townsend, and Bill Townsend. These talented and highly experienced GRAA members regaled attendees with stories of Goddard’s early days and how things changed at the Center from its inception to the present, to include some of the internal and external forces that promoted such changes over its 50+ years. It was obvious from the speakers’ comments that it was easier to get things done in the early days, what with a national priority on winning the space race, fewer bureaucratic hurdles, and space-related technology essentially being in its infancy. Times have definitely changed over the years, especially with regard to drastic improvements in technology and hardware, scientific processes, and risk management protocols that have emerged exponentially throughout Goddard’s lifetime. We sincerely thank the panel members for their time and effort in providing a wonderful historical review of the Center’s trials and tribulations. The panel’s presentation was recorded for posterity and we will review the recording to determine if copies can possibly be made available to interested parties and post the results of our analysis in an upcoming newsletter.

GODDARD MEMORIAL SYMPOSIUM : The 50^th Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium, sponsored by the American Astronautical Society, was held March 27-29. Distinguished speakers emphasized the current status and future plans for space exploration and timely dissemination of information. Six panels of experts from NASA, NOAA, industry, and academia addressed topics on Human Exploration Strategy, Science Strategy, Technology Strategy, Public Outreach/Education, Future Infrastructure and Launches, and Space and Terrestrial Weather/Climate. Slide presentations and, if your computer has the required software, some video presentations from the symposium can be found at http://www.astronautical.org. Search on the 50^th Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium.

GRAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION RESULTS : The election for GRAA’s Board of Directors (BOD) was held at the April luncheon. Members of the BOD for the next two years are Richard Baker, Ron Browning, Charlie Boyle, Tony Comberiate, Barbara Hamilton, Strat Laios, and Bob Wigand

NEW EDITION OF THE GRAA MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY : The 2012 edition of the GRAA Membership Directory is scheduled to be mailed to all GRAA members along with the June issue of the GRAA Newsletter. We need to be sent member updates so its contents are as accurate as possible. If you have contact updates (address, e-mail address, and/or telephone number), or if you would like to receive future GRAA Newsletters by e-mail instead of snail mail, or if you no longer desire to receive the GRAA Newsletter, please notify Strat Laios by sending him a note to GRAA’s address above or an e-mail to stratlaios@verizon.net so as to arrive no later than May 11^th. That’s only a week or so after you receive this newsletter, so please help us meet our publishing and mailing schedules.

FROM THE GODDARD ARCHIVES - IT HAPPENED IN MAY:
May 7, 1975: A Scout rocket launched the Small Astronomy Satellite C (SAS C), also known as Explorer 53 and SAS-3, from the San Marco launch platform off the coast of Kenya, into a low-Earth, nearly equatorial orbit. It was the third in a series of SAS spacecraft and had three primary objectives: 1) determine bright X-ray source locations; 2) study selected sources over a specified energy range; and 3) continuously search the sky for X-ray novae, flares, and other transient phenomena. The satellite functioned until April 1979.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Bob Wigand reports tax-deductible contributions were received from the following: Earl Angulo, Philip Cressy, William Elsen, John Ferguson, Allen Frenzel, Barbara Gilmore, Pat and Walt Hensel, Alton Jones, Jennie and Thomas Keating, George Kraft, Peggy and Stephen Maran, Ivan Mason, Raymond Mazur, Ralph Mollerick, Robert and Walter Nagel, Thomas Page, Joseph Pohl, Roger Ratliff, Kenneth Rosette, Thomas Ryan, Persis Suddeth, Thomas Underwood, Joseph Valenti, Betty and Schuyler Wardrip, William Worrall, and Lawrence Zeigenfuss

REMEMBERING OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES:

•  Nancy R. Hodgens, of Fredericksburg, VA, passed away on March 20^th. She worked as a Procurement Analyst in the Incentives Contracts Office and Contract Support Office at Goddard and earlier for the US Air Force.

•  Robert T. (Bob) Long, of Wachapreague, VA, passed away on March 28^th. He was an Engineer at the Wallops Flight Facility and spent most of his career as a Project Manager in the Sounding Rockets Program.

•  William D. Paxton, Jr., , of Dunkirk, MD, passed away on April 9^th. After serving 14 years in the US Air Force, he worked for the Bell Telephone Company and then came to Goddard as a Communications Analyst in NASCOM. After retiring, he worked another 10 years for the Bendix Field Engineering Corporation.

GODDARD SOLICITS YOUR HELP IN MAY: The Transit of Venus on June 5-6 is a rare astronomical event that will not be visible again until 2117. NASA teams have joined forces to share the uniqueness of this event to produce printed and multimedia resources on NASA’s web site (http://sunearthday.nasa.gov or http://venustransit.nasa.gov). Goddard has printed safe-for-solar-viewing glasses and bookmarks to be sent to students and other interested parties. If you can spare an hour or two to help box up and/or label the materials for mailing, please contact Carolyn Ng at carolyn.y.ng@nasa.gov or 301-286-1359 and she will provide scheduling information.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH: There’s always a lot for which to be thankful for if one takes time to look for it. For example, Ye Ed is thinking as he writes this how nice it is that wrinkles don’t hurt.